Machine for making pulp blanks



Nov. 20, 1962 L. M. HARTMANN ETAL MACHINE FOR MAKING PULP BLANKS Filed Sept. 30, 1959 3,364,727 MACHINE FOR MAKING PULP BLANKS Louis Martin Hartmann and Albert Bertram Arkadius Hansen, Lyngby, Denmark, assignors to Aktieselskabet Brodrene Hartmann, Lynghy, Denmark, a ioint-stock company of Denmark Filed Sept. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 8%,584 Claims priority, application Denmark Get. 7, 1958 2 Claims. (Cl. 162-382) This invention relates to a machine for making pulp blanks, wherein the blanks are pneumatically transferred from one rotating carrier to moulds located on a second rotating carrier, said moulds during transfer performing a swinging movement controlled by a stationary cam, and from the moulds are deposited on a travelling conveyor. The invention of this application constitutes an improvement on the disclosure of the applicants copending application Ser. No. 717,092, filed February 24, 1958, now Patent No. 2,986,211, granted May 30, 1961, and assigned to the same assignee as that of the present application.

In the case of such a machine the depositing of the blanks on the conveyor causes diificulties as the blanks are usually in a moist and soft condition, and therefore may easily be deformed when hitting the conveyor.

It is an object of the invention to avoid these difficulties.

According to the invention the cam is so shaped that during the transfer of said blanks the moulds are swung in relation to the second carrier in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the said carrier.

It will thereby be possible to adapt the path of travel of the moulds immediately before, during, and immediately after the depositing, so that the depositing height will be slight, and the depositing therefore can be effected gently and leniently.

According to the invention it is furthermore expedient that the cam be so shaped that the moulds during the depositing of said blanks continue to occupy the same direction in space, e.g. horizontal direction.

If the machine is used in combination with a known conveyor consisting of a row of shelves which are swingably suspended from an endless conveyor member, the latter travelling on a guiding member located below the second carrier, it is suitable according to the invention that the place of depositing be so chosen that the shelf onto which the blank is delivered is located during the depositing of the blank at the front part of the circumference of the guiding member at a short distance from the uppermost point of said member. The axis of the guiding member is preferably disposed in proximity to a vertical plane through the axis of the second carrier.

By this design the best delivery is obtained when the rate of advance of the conveyor is so adapted that the component of the speed of a shelf in the travelling direction at the place of depositing is approximately equal to the component of the speed of the depositing mould in the same direction.

The invention will now be more fully described reference being bad to the drawing. The single FIGURE, which partly schematically shows an embodiment of the essential parts of a machine according to the invention for producing egg carriers or egg cartons from pulp.

The machine comprises a trochoid carrier 10 for a plurality of suction moulds 12 equidistantly and fixedly located at its circumference. The carrier 10 is rotatably mounted on an axis 14, and during the operation of the machine it rotates continuously in the direction indicated by an arrow. Thereby the moulds 12 pass through a pulp gruel 15 contained in a vat 16, pulp blanks being thus formed on the moulds by suction.

From a second trochoid carrier 18 transfer moulds 20 are swingably suspended, the number of said moulds in 3,864,??? Patented Nov. 2c, 1952 the shown embodiment being equal to the number of the moulds on the carrier 19. The placing of the moulds 20 on the carrier 18 and the means by which they can be moved in relation to same during operation, are mainly schematically suggested in the drawings.

Each mould 20 has a rearwardly extending projection 22 which is connected with the carrier 18 by means of a link 24. One end of a link rod 26 is connected with the mould 20 by means of a link 28, whereas the other end of the link rod 26 is connected with one arm 30 of an angle lever mounted on the carrier 18 by means of a link 32, the other arm 34 of said lever carrying a rotatable roller 36, which travels in a track 38 in a stationary cam 40.

To the carrier 19 is attached a gear wheel 42 which engages a gear wheel 44 on the carrier 18, whereby the latter is rotated on its axis 46 at the same speed as the carrier 10 but in the opposite direction.

By a suitable shaping of the cam track 38 a correct cooperation can be obtained between the suction moulds 12 and the transfer moulds 20 when they travel through the plane 48 which passes through the axes 14 and 46.

During such co-operation a brief compression of the blanks formed by the suction on the moulds 12 is effected, and said blanks are pneumatically transferred to the moulds 2d, the blanks being held thereto by suction during the continued movement of the moulds 2G.

The part of the machine and its mode of operation mentioned in the foregoing are known and therefore not described in detail.

The blanks received on the moulds 20 are deposited on a conveyor which in the shown embodiment consists of two endless chains 59 travelling over a guiding member comprising two chain wheels 52. On pivots 54 carried equidistantly by the chains 50 are swingably suspended plane shelves 56 which by gravity are always kept in horizontal position by means of counter weights 58. The chain wheels 52 are so positioned that their axis 53 is approximately vertically below the axis 46 of the carrier 18. The conveyor which travels in the direction indicated by an arrow, serves to transfer the blanks to a drying kiln which as a whole is designated by the refer once 59. When the blanks in dried condition leave the kiln 59 they are thrown off the shelves 56, so that these shelves return, empty to the place of depositing.

At the place of depositing the cam track 33 has a part 60 which in the direction of rotation extends obliquely inwards towards the axis 46. When one of the rollers 36 travels on this part a swinging movement will be imparted to the appurtenant mould 20 through the angle lever 30, 34 and the link rod 26 in anti-clockwise direction in relation to the carrier 18, i.e. in a direction opposite to that of the rotation of said carrier. By a suitable shaping of the cam track 38 an advantageous shape of the path for the absolute motion of the mould 20 can thereby be obtained, and furthermore it will be possible to keep the mould in horizontal or approximately horizontal position, viz. in parallel to the shelves 56, during the time when the depositing of the blank of the appurtenant shelf 56 is effected, said shelf being itself in horizontal position and moving during the depositing along the front parts of and towards the uppermost points of the chain wheels 52. Thus an approximation is obtained to the most favourable condition in which the path of travel of the mould is parallel to that of the shelf, so that the shortest possible distance between shelf and mould can be used. Furthermore, the requirement can be met that the components in the direction of the conveyor of the speed of a shelf and of the speed of the mould above shall be approximately equal.

When the said conditions are fulfilled, the two ends of the deposited blanks will strike the shelf simultaneously and quite gently so that the blank is not subjected to deformation and damage.

The invention is not restricted to the conveyors consisting of swingable shelves, and the invention may be applied, whether or not the tWo carriers support equal numbers of moulds. Furthermore, the part of the conveyor, on which the blanks are removed from the place of depositing, need not extend perfectly horizontally.

In the machine shown in the drawing the wet blanks are transferred after a slight compression to the conveyor, and practically all the drying is etfected by heat in the kiln. The invention may, however, also be used in connection with other machines wherein between the two carriers shown there is provided one or more further carriers which may serve to a further compressing or other treatment of the blanks before they are delivered to the conveyor.

Having now fully described our invention we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In an apparatus for the manufacture of pulp blanks from fiber pulp, including a rotatable carrier provided with spaced moulds around its circumference for receiving and transferring formed pulp blanks, a horizontally-arranged endless conveyor for receiving the pulp blanks from the moulds of said rotatable carrier, said endless conveyor having a receiving end located adjacent the lower portion of the rotatable carrier and including swingable shelves for respectively receiving the pulp blanks from the moulds of the rotatable carrier, means for keeping said shelves in horizontal position during the operation of the conveyor, and a guide member located at the receiving end of the endless conveyor over which the endless conveyor moves in proximity to the lower portion of the rotatable carrier and around which the shelves are carried while being maintained horizontal, the improvement in which the receiving end of the endless conveyor and the lower portion of the rotatable carrier are located adjacent to each other in positions such that the moulds transfer the pulp blanks respectively to the shelves of the conveyor as they move upwardly and forwardly in succession around the upper portion of the guide member, said moulds on the rotatable carrier being swingably arranged, a stationary cam controlling the swinging movement of said moulds relative to the carrier and having a bend in the area adjacent the receiving end of theendless Conveyor including a portion extending obliquely inwardly 4 toward the axis of the rotatable carrier to an extent such that the moulds are swung respectively to a horizontal position over the shelves and that during the transfer of the pulp blanks from the moulds to the shelves the moulds are respectively kept parallel to and moved at the same velocity and in the same direction as the shelves.

2. In an apparatus for the manufacture of pulp blanks from fiber pulp, including a rotatable carrier rotatable about a horizontal axis and provided with spaced moulds around its circumference for receiving and transferring formed pulp blanks, a horizontally-arranged endless conveyor for receiving the pulp blanks from the moulds of said rotatable carrier, said endless conveyor having a receiving end located with its upper flight adjacent the lower portion of the carrier and including a series of swingable shelves for respectively receiving the pulp blanks from the moulds of the rotatable carrier, means for keeping said shelves in horizontal position during the operation of the conveyor, and a rotatable guide member located at the receiving end of the endless conveyor over which the conveyor moves in proximity to the lower portion of the rotatable carrier and around which the shelves are carried in succession while being maintained horizontal,

the improvement in which the moulds are swingably movement to difierent angular positions relative to said periphery, a stationary cam controlling the swinging movement of said moulds relative to the periphery of the rotatable carrier and having a contour in the area adjacent the receiving end of the endless conveyor effective for swinging said moulds in succession to a horizontal position over the shelves of the endless conveyor for keeping the moulds parallel to and moving at the same velocity and in the same direction as the shelves during the time of transfer of the pulp blanks, whereby the pulp blanks are gently deposited on said shelves from said moulds while said moulds are parallel to and moving at the same velocity and in the same direction as said shelves.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

